they needed the obama administration to give -- help them get a path wrai to yes. that hasn't happened. i mean we hear a lot of press release politics coming from elected officials who wants to go over the cliff. who doesn't want to go over the cliff. the fact is, is that it's in both sides' best interest to get this done. they want a two-year deal because no one wants to keep running on this stuff. and most importantly, to president obama, he has a state of the union and an inauguration speech to give. he wants to work on his legacy, not on this. >> so what -- you just said that the republicans really did just play right into the hands of the democrats. is that what you said? >> well, i think they fumbled the ball a little bit in their negotiations. i think, for example, even the optics of it, having president obama back in washington today, and having congress still out, is not the right message to end. people right now feel that the republicans are the party of no, that they are the ones causing this, they are going to get blamed. the fact of the matter is, is t